Northeast Jewish community
is focus of Klein Branch play

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

It’s easy to understand why the story of Northeast Philadelphia’s past is largely lost on historians and academics in a town most noted for its role in the history of the nation.
But that doesn’t make it right.
Unlike downtown Philly, the Northeast’s history is not all about buildings, documents and famous patriots. Rather, it’s about common men and women and their communities.
A forthcoming play at the JCC’s Klein Branch will examine and celebrate the history of one of the most prominent local religious, ethnic and social groups of the 20th century, the Jewish community.
Back to the Boulevard, written by Julianne (Bernstein) Theodoropulos and directed by Aaron Oster, animates the oral histories of older Northeast Jews as conveyed to local high school students during dozens of one-on-one interviews conducted last winter and spring.
It will run for three performances — on April 26 and April 28-29 — in the Klein Branch’s Polonsky Theater.
The cast of four professional players and two George Washington High students re-enacts the interviews as well as the personal anecdotes and recollections contained in them that span more than a half-century — histories that otherwise might never have been told.
Mainline-based Theatre Ariel is the presenting company. According to artistic director Deborah Baer Mozes, the 16-year-old touring company seeks to produce original works featuring Jewish content at venues primarily throughout the tri-state area.
"It is certainly unique in a theatrical sense," Oster said. "Certain people have written about the Northeast. But specifically targeting the Jewish community, this is a unique project."
It was born two years ago when leaders of Temple Sholom, at Roosevelt Boulevard and Large Street, asked Mozes to compile a history of the congregation in conjunction with its departure from the Northeast and merger with Temple Beth Sholom of Elkins Park.
With little more than memories to work with, Mozes realized that the best way to perpetuate an oral tradition was to get the young people involved. They interviewed senior members of the congregation.
The artistic director soon saw the potential for a bigger project.
"In the process of doing that, I realized that the whole Northeast had this fascinating history, the story of post-World War II urbanization that happened in those areas," she said.
In the post-war era, Jewish families from all parts of Philadelphia migrated to the rapidly developing Northeast in search of bigger homes, more open space and a better quality of life. Many had immigrated as children to the United States from overseas, and many of the young men served in the military during the war.
"A lot of them bought houses on the G.I. Bill," Mozes said.
They moved into newly built homes and started many businesses in the area. They founded new synagogues in growing neighborhoods like Oxford Circle, Castor Gardens and Mayfair.
"They met in tents initially," Mozes said. "Jewish families sought each other out to create these congregations."
For many, the Northeast became only a stopping point and staging area for further urban flight into the surrounding suburbs and beyond. But thousands of early Northeast residents are still here.
In seeking their stories, Mozes went to the popular Klein Branch, at Red Lion Road and Jamison Avenue, and she brought more than 40 students from Northeast High, Washington High and the Jewish Community High School of Gratz College.
They conducted close to 60 recorded interviews, some as long as 90 minutes, and photographed their subjects as well with guidance from two historians with Temple University’s Urban Archives Center.
The pictures were presented in an exhibit at the Klein Branch last summer, followed by a downtown debut from March 5 to 29 at the Multicultural Youth Exchange Gallery on Church Street in Old City.
The photo exhibition will return to the Klein Branch in conjunction with the play.
"They were very happy to share their stories, and were very happy to share with younger people," Theodoropulos said of the senior interview subjects.
"It was precious to them that the people interviewing them, for the most part, were not Jewish," added Mozes, noting that many of the students were also immigrants and, as such, shared many common experiences with their subjects, though generations apart chronologically.
In writing the screenplay, Theodoropulos included many of the most telling and poignant individual stories. In other instances, she compiled several similar anecdotes into one composite story.
"I really just went through and got all of the good stuff, what I thought was interesting and specific," Theodoropulos said.
The student actors, Dane Wozniak and Tatyana Kalko, portray teen interviewers and are the hub around which the action flows. The four professional players — Peggy Smith, Becca Landis, Brian Adoff and Corbin Arbernathy — portray the interviewees, both in the present day and in years past.
"Everybody is playing two or three roles that repeat, and as many as a dozen tiny parts with maybe one line," Oster said.
The play is not a large production in terms of scenery and set design. Likewise, costuming and makeup are modest, according to the director. Rather, the production leans heavily on the talents of the actors, with support from recorded music and projected imagery.
"It has more to do with their ability to change voices and the way they walk and interact with the world," Oster said. "We’re really putting the emphasis on humanity." ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com

What you need to know…

Back to the Boulevard will be presented Thursday, April 26, and Saturday and Sunday, April 28-29, in the Polonsky Theater at the JCC Klein Branch, Red Lion Road and Jamison Avenue.
Shows are April 26 at 7:30 p.m., April 28 at 8:30 p.m., and April 29 at 2 p.m. General admission tickets are $8; seniors are admitted for $4. They are available at the box office or by calling 215-735-9481.